My One And Only (Very Irresistible Bachelors 5)

This wasn’t working out. The more I tried to reassure her, the more she got herself in a frenzy.

“Okay, then I’ll pretend we haven’t met. How about that?” I asked.

She chuckled.

“Is there anything I can do to make this situation better?”

“Ending this awkward conversation?”

She sounded flustered. She was right. This wasn’t helping—quite the contrary, actually.

Now that she mentioned it, I realized I was just prolonging an awkward situation. After all, she was still half dressed in there.

“I’ll see you in the auditorium. Good luck.”

She laughed. It was more of a nervous chuckle, but it was still progress. The last thing I wanted was for her to walk in that auditorium and stumble over her own words because of this. She had one shot. I didn’t want anything to jeopardize her chances of success.

I wasn’t really sold on their business. I remembered from the application they sent that they had impressive sales numbers, but they had a short history. This didn’t mean, however, that I wasn’t going to give their pitch a fair shot.

“I’ll try to do the same.”

I smiled before ducking into the men’s room, still miffed at my mistake. The auditorium building had been under renovation recently, so perhaps they changed the locations of the bathrooms?

It didn’t matter, in truth. I had other problems. I might be able to pretend we hadn’t met, but there was no erasing that sinful image from my mind.

***

Tess

Oh my God, this was embarrassing. I spilled coffee on my shirt, so I’d come to the bathroom to clean it off. Instead, I flashed my boobs to Liam Harrington himself. What a way to start the day.

I recognized him from the photo on his company’s website. I’d also seen him in passing this morning when we were all shown to the waiting room.

I gave up trying to wash off the stain, just holding the wet portion of my shirt under the hand dryer for a full minute. After putting it on, I also slung my black suit jacket on, buttoning it up. There, now it was hidden. I just hoped I wouldn’t break into a sweat.

I smoothed my palms over my skirt before walking quickly back into the waiting room, which was actually just a long corridor with chairs lined up at the wall on both sides. The hardwood floors and tall but narrow windows gave the space a friendly vibe. The ceiling was high, and there was something majestic about it.

My sister Skye was staring at the laptop she was holding on her lap, biting her lower lip. This was a nerve-racking day for the both of us, but I’d rarely seen my sister this jumpy. Being surrounded by our competitors certainly wasn’t helping. I sat next to her, determined to push the bathroom incident to the back of my mind and focus on how I could help Skye relax.

The stakes were high today. Skye and I owned Soho Lingerie, a shop selling all sorts of undergarments, and we wanted to expand. To that end, we needed financing, and we were hoping to get it from Harrington & Co. Receiving additional capital would help us expand more quickly; there was no denying that. But we’d also have to give Harrington & Co. some control of our business, and I still had mixed feelings about that. I had to take everything one step at a time though, and right now, my priority was to distract Skye.

She ran a hand through her hair, ruffling her perfectly cut bangs. Her chocolate-colored hair was in complete disarray now. Even her dark-blue suit was getting wrinkled because she was fidgeting so much.

It was usually easy for me to calm Skye down, but today I was nervous as hell too, especially after the bathroom incident.

I drew on my lifelong experience as the older sister to three rambunctious siblings and came up with an idea. Skye always lit up when she spoke about her six-month-old son.

“Did Jonas manage to sit up on his own yet?” I asked. I didn’t lower my voice, because the next group was seated quite far from us.

Skye instantly smiled. “No, but he’s very good at propelling himself forward on his belly. He looks like he’s swimming on the floor.”

“And you didn’t send me a pic?” I pouted, feeling a strange tightness in my chest. I loved being there for every milestone, but this month was our busiest yet for some reason. It was mid-September, which I wouldn’t say was a big shopping month, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Sorry, I forgot. In my defense, it happened yesterday when I was reading the presentation. But I have a picture.” She took out her phone, tapping it twice before turning the screen to me.

I sighed as my chest didn’t just tighten—something literally squeezed inside my rib cage. I loved my nephew so much. He was growing fast. Every time I saw him, he looked a tad different than the last time.

“Are you bringing him to the store tomorrow?” I asked eagerly.